A 24-year-old man from the Hyogo region (west) was arrested, Wakayama police told AFP.
“There was a loud explosion (…). The police are investigating the details, but I would like to apologize for worrying people and causing them problems,” said Kishida, a few kilometers from the scene of the incident.
“Right now, an important campaign is taking place for our country, and we must work together and see it through to the end,” he added.
The prime minister is due to attend another public event in Chiba, near Tokyo, in the afternoon.
Kishida was in the port city of Saikazaki early on Saturday to support a local ruling party candidate and was preparing to address supporters when the incident occurred.
Several media outlets, including the Kyodo news agency, reported that an object resembling a “smoke bomb” had been released. Seconds later, there was a detonation, and the place filled with white smoke.
Television broadcaster NHK broadcast footage of a person being held down by police as the crowd dispersed. Witnesses at the scene reported moments of panic.
“I ran frantically and then, about ten seconds later, there was a very loud noise, and my son started to cry. I was paralyzed, my heart is still beating very fast,” said an NHK woman.
“Someone shouted ‘To the culprit!’ or ‘they threw a bomb’, and everybody started running”, said a man at the same net.
– Murder of Abe –
“It’s regrettable that something like this happened in the middle of an election campaign that is the foundation of democracy. It’s an unforgivable atrocity,” said ruling party election strategy chief Hiroshi Moriyama, NHK.
Security at Japan’s election rallies can be relatively lax, as the country has strict gun laws and a low crime rate. But security around the politicians was tightened after the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. He was shot during a campaign event in July 2022.
His alleged assassin, Tetsuya Yamagami, is said to have shot him because of his ties to the Unification Church, a sect with important political connections. Dele donated so much money to the institution that the family went bankrupt.
Both the head of the National Police Agency and the local police chief resigned after the murder and an investigation that revealed “deficiencies” in the former Japanese leader’s security.
The incident in Wakayama coincides with Japan’s organization of G7 ministerial summits in Sapporo (north) and Karuizawa, near Nagano (centre), ahead of the G7 leaders’ summit in Hiroshima in May.